Kmart will keep shoppers in Invercargill: Retailer

Wednesday, 20 November 2019

The new KMart building on Clyde St, Invercargill, will open on November 22.

If Invercargill's retailers are feeling threatened by the arrival of Kmart to the city they are not showing it.

On the contrary, they say the competition Kmart will bring to the retail sector is a positive thing.

The Kmart megastore, which has hired more than 100 staff, opens on Friday.

Neighbouring Retailers Group chairman Ben Fokkens said he welcomed Kmart's arrival.

The group represents about 26 CBD retailers in Invercargill.

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'It's going to keep people shopping in Invercargill as opposed to them venturing off to Dunedin or Queenstown,' he said.

'Anything that keeps people in Invercargill is a bonus and there's 100 jobs [at Kmart] for locals which is huge.'

Competition in retail was good because it got more people out spending, Fokkens said.

He hoped people shopping at Kmart would make the walk - 'less than five minutes' - to also shop in the CBD retail stores.

Fokkens, owner of Shoe Clinic in Esk St, was looking forward to seeing how the food court in the Kmart building went.

The other tenants in the Clyde St building are Muffin Break, St Pierre's Sushi, K Chicken, Shake Shed & Co, Ten Ten Thai street food, Stirling Sports and M M Barber Express, but it's understood not all will be ready to open on Friday.

Perhaps the biggest competition Kmart will face will be from the Warehouse, which has been in Invercargill for 30 years.

Warehouse Invercargill store manager Kelvin Mooney also said he welcomed competition.

'It keeps us on our toes,' he said in a statement.

'Competition is healthy for the whole industry. We enjoy a close relationship with the community and it's our job to ensure the trust and loyalty of our customers remains with us.'

This weekend the Warehouse will put on a range of pre-Black Friday deals, though he did not say if it was in direct response to the opening of Kmart.

Briscoes managing director Rod Duke said competition in retail was unavoidable.

'We always like to have no competition but being realistic competition forces us to smarten our game … present different ranges.'

Briscoes, which has recently completed a $1m refurbishment of its Invercargill store, was known for its famous brand names which gave it a point of difference, Duke said.

First Union Southland organiser Ken Young said the opening of the Kmart store in Invercargill was a positive for not only the workers it would attract, but also the customers.

Kmart was one of a number of national chains which had agreed to pay its employees the living wage, he said.

The offer means all Kmart workers with 12 months' experience or more would be paid at least $21.15 from April next year.

'$21.15 allows them to have choices … it's a hell of a big difference to the minimum wage which is $17.70,' Young said.

Invercargill deputy mayor Toni Biddle said months of hard work had gone into the Kmart store and she couldn't wait to do her Christmas shopping.